There is a special need for a system of identifying lost pets and locating their owners. Each year, millions of stray cats and dogs starve on the streets, become a nuisance, or are picked up by animal control authorities around the country and taken to "shelters" where, if they are not claimed within a few days, they will be executed. Even if they are given or sold by the shelter to a new owner, their previous owners often experience a severe sense of loss akin to losing a member of the family.
It is currently known to provide collars which allow the owner to write identification infromation directly onto the collar or onto a collar tag. However, due to the size of pet collars, only limited information can be provided, and the information cannot be updated unless the information is written in non-permanent form.
It is important that the information be updateable. For example, the owner may move to a different residence, or the owner may wish to transfer the collar to a different pet. However, if the information is not provided in permanent form, there is a good chance it will be destroyed during the normal activities of the pet, due to inclement weather, rough-housing, and so forth.
It is also known to provide collars or tags having pre-printed or engraved personalized information. Again, however, the amount of information that can be placed on the collar or tag is limited, the information is not updateable, and the cost of manufacturing such personalized collars or tags is greatly increased.
In addition, a further drawback of such prior art collars and tags is that many owners do not wish to release their address or phone number unless absolutely necessary. For example, it has not been possible to print unlisted phone numbers on a collar or tag without making the number obtainable simply by checking the collar as the pet wanders around the property of the owner.
Examples of prior art collars having the above drawbacks are shown in U.S. Pat. Nos. 4,137,660, 4,178,879, 4,031,859, 3,585,743 and 1,803,196.